Commercial airlines will from time to time change the passenger seating in a given airplane. This is usually done by removing the existing seats and replacing them with new seats of a different size. Changing the seating in this manner requires considerable time and is usually performed when the aircraft is out of service.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,702, granted Nov. 21, 1989, to Richard J. Slettebak, provides a seat construction which permits a change in the seating configuration by making adjustments to a permanent seat structure Specifically, this patent discloses seat assemblies which are convertible between seven seats in a row and six wider seats in the same row. The above mentioned U.S. application Ser. No. 07/482,197 discloses a passenger seat construction which permits a change in seating between six seats in a row and five wider seats in the same row. Each row of seats is composed of two-seat assemblies separated by an aisle. One of the assemblies is convertible between three seats of a first seat width and three seats of a wider seat width. The other assembly is convertible between three seats of a first seat width and two seats of a wider seat width.
The present invention relates primarily to improvements in the three to two seat assembly. However, some aspects of the present invention are usable in the three to three seat assembly, and in other seat assemblies composed of movable and fixed frame portions. A principal object of the present invention is to provide control mechanisms which automatically reposition the seat assembly components in response to a simple push or pull imposed on a movable aisle seat frame portion of the seat assembly.